2025/26 - What's The Feeling?
Posted: Mon Apr 27, 2026 12:20 pm
Not a loaded post, but genuinely interested to find out what other fans thought of the season?
I was only able to get over for one game, Southall at home over Christmas, but looking at the table and a record of 18-7-17 and 12pts off of the playoffs with a 9th place finish at Step 4 seems well below par to me. Add to that we've got the worst goal difference outside of the four relegated clubs. It's clear much change is needed in the summer.
Also (and I'm playing devil's advocate a little here), did things really improve much under Jamie Tompkins after he took over from Simon Lane? Genuine un-loaded question as the stats tell us that 9 of the 17 league losses came after he took over. Admittedly, the very end of the season was a write-off once the playoffs were an impossibility, but he did drastically change the squad and still results haven't really improved.
Not meant to sound too critical of JT. Only so much you can do midway through a season but with so many changes, including releasing players such as Aaron Watkins who looked a solid stopper, it just doesn't look to me to have worked as well as we hoped. I'm certainly not advocating the removal of JT, far from it. He needs a proper summer to change the squad properly and get them playing his way, but you'd have to feel we need a strong start to 26/27 to assuage any fears.
One good addition looks to be Brendan Matthew who has added goals. But our top scorer is still Sam Ashton who hasn't played since November. That's a pretty damning indictment.
As I say, not meant to sound uber-negative, but just how I see it from afar. Feel free to correct me if I've got any of the above wrong. I just really hope we can have a very strong season next season. We need more than one goalscorer (a la Barney, Toomey, Culley etc). A strong defence has got to be a must too. From what I saw, it was so easy to get in behind us if the opposition had any kind of pace. If the aim truly is to get back to National League South (and I believe that's correct for us) then the recovery has to start right now.
We're also competing with other successful local clubs such as Uxbridge, Hanworth Villa, Hanwell Town and the like. I'd like to think a good start can boost the attendances.
COYH!
I was only able to get over for one game, Southall at home over Christmas, but looking at the table and a record of 18-7-17 and 12pts off of the playoffs with a 9th place finish at Step 4 seems well below par to me. Add to that we've got the worst goal difference outside of the four relegated clubs. It's clear much change is needed in the summer.
Also (and I'm playing devil's advocate a little here), did things really improve much under Jamie Tompkins after he took over from Simon Lane? Genuine un-loaded question as the stats tell us that 9 of the 17 league losses came after he took over. Admittedly, the very end of the season was a write-off once the playoffs were an impossibility, but he did drastically change the squad and still results haven't really improved.
Not meant to sound too critical of JT. Only so much you can do midway through a season but with so many changes, including releasing players such as Aaron Watkins who looked a solid stopper, it just doesn't look to me to have worked as well as we hoped. I'm certainly not advocating the removal of JT, far from it. He needs a proper summer to change the squad properly and get them playing his way, but you'd have to feel we need a strong start to 26/27 to assuage any fears.
One good addition looks to be Brendan Matthew who has added goals. But our top scorer is still Sam Ashton who hasn't played since November. That's a pretty damning indictment.
As I say, not meant to sound uber-negative, but just how I see it from afar. Feel free to correct me if I've got any of the above wrong. I just really hope we can have a very strong season next season. We need more than one goalscorer (a la Barney, Toomey, Culley etc). A strong defence has got to be a must too. From what I saw, it was so easy to get in behind us if the opposition had any kind of pace. If the aim truly is to get back to National League South (and I believe that's correct for us) then the recovery has to start right now.
We're also competing with other successful local clubs such as Uxbridge, Hanworth Villa, Hanwell Town and the like. I'd like to think a good start can boost the attendances.
COYH!